We find the abhorrent murder of George Floyd to be further evidence of the deeply entrenched racism and white supremacy that plagues our nation. We know that George Floyd’s death is only the tip of the iceberg of the ways in which our systems oppress, harm, and kill Black and Brown people. We profess our full support and empathy to the Black community and those protesting these injustices.
Injustice and discrimination is evident across our country, including here in Central Virginia. As a community, including within our organization, we must invest in ongoing anti-racist training and dialogue. As a board, we are committed to taking action beyond issuing statements at politically or socially convenient times. We know this is a lifetime of work.
We believe that data transparency is a necessary (but not sufficient) step in exposing and dismantling all forms of racism and injustice. Institutions of power must transparently share data to contribute to uncovering injustice. Locally, we are working to get transparent data for both our own Police Civilian Review Board and those investigating racial disparities connected to COVID-19 data. It is imperative that we continue to push for this type of transparency.
Smart Cville promises not only to promote data transparency for the purpose of exposing racism and racial inequities. But we also promise to look at ourselves, and our own organizational structures and systems from an anti-racist lens and to check ourselves when we fall short of our own goals or our community’s expectations. We have so much to learn and we are open and willing to hear from the community on how we can do better both now and anytime in the future.
Smart Cville Board of Directors